Discordant
by 62warewolves
Summary: A young boy from Henesys travels to Ellinia on a stormy night to deliver a cure for a deadly poison Arwen the fairy swallowed.
1. A rare occurrence

Night did not often come to the fairy city of Ellinia. As a land densely doused in the magic of the forest, with a canopy of trees overhead, it was rare to even notice that night had fallen. The trees were strung out with magic, glowing brightly even in the darkest of nights. Fairies, who did not have to sleep as long as humans, often fell asleep standing up, comfortable in the embrace of their protective city.

An old man draped in a white robe with a matching magician hat looked morbidly out of the window of his loft, gazing to the empty and dark city. In the darkness surrounding the city, the glow from the trees almost dimmed as they swayed in the gale. As if on cue, a strong gust swept through, and the man grabbed onto the window as the tree bent, nearly reaching a 90 degree angle. It was a mark of the strength of the forest that it didn't snap under the pressure.

As the tree began to return to a more upright position, the silence spell put on his library faded. As the wind suddenly grew from deathly quiet to an all out wail, crying out in injustice, he called upon his magic reserves to cast the spell once more over Ellinia. Pausing to drink down some potions to ensure his magic stayed completely filled, he listened as the sound faded once more.

Grendel let go of the window and walked up the bookcase toward the elemental magic section, pulling out an old and dusty book. Flipping through a few pages, he located the spell that would serve his needs, and cast it on himself as the tree tilted the other way. His gravity spell finished, Grendel walked toward the floor, and stood in the library as if it was a normal day despite the fact he was now standing sideways. Using a levitation spell to ensure the books would not fall out of place while the wind blew through the room, Grendel opened the door and quickly exited his home as the wind struggled to push him inside.

Grendel closed the door and cast a small shield around him to keep the wind from pulling him off the platform, despite the gravity spell. Gazing around Ellinia, he was glad to see some faces peering at him from the windows, everyone had stayed indoors as he had suggested. Looking left, or down seeing as he was technically on a wall, he realised the trees were leaning over into the deeper parts of the forest, where few Fairies had ever trod.

Seeing very little wildlife around, Grendel knew the forest was prepared to weather the storm as it had done so many others in the past. The good thing about living in a dense, magical forest was also a bad thing too; magic tended to react badly to bad weather.

Looking out towards Henesys, Grendel could see the road filled with flying rocks and sticks, and knew they would not be receiving any supplies while the storm persisted. Only a fool would brave this storm, even if the supplies could very well mean life and death. With Arwen suffering from a poison mushroom she had ingested, the cure of which could only be produced in Henesys, along with the sudden storm that had descended upon Ellinia as they did once in a blue moon, thing's were dire for the city.

If this persisted another 24 hours, Grendel would be forced to send a beginner via a risky teleportation spell. With the weather as it was, there was every chance the spell could go wrong and be blown off course. Arwen didn't have more than two days at the most. Grendel needed the storm to blow over soon, less he risk loosing one of the town to an easily-preventable disease.

"~a~~ah!" Grendel felt the wind picking up again just as it carried a voice to his ears, faint and an obvious cry for help. Using pinpoint accuracy, he tracked the source immediately, and realised the voice was coming from the path to Ellinia. Peering down, even resorting to a spell to improve his eyesight, he scoured the path for the source of the cry.

Grendel found the source quickly, a brown-haired form running towards Ellinia while drinking potions as if they were air. Grasping his staff, he quickly prepared a teleportation spell, abandoning his concern the spell would go off course. The person was obvious struggling to keep himself upright, let alone climb a tree. Casting it, he heard the relieving thump of something landing inside his library as the form below vanished. Quickly heading inside, closing the door behind him, he briskly walked over to the hunched form.

The boy was in bad shape, cuts and barely-healed scars covered his entire body, and a bruised face that would take a few days to heal, even with magic. His short, brown hair was almost black with blood, a large rock stuck in the back of his head. His bag, clutched to his chest, tattered and mere ribbons. Grendel could also see his arm was broken, and both legs sprained. Calling upon his magic, Grendel began healing the more serious injuries, even as the boy returned to consciousness. After completing his task, Grendel leaned down to put the arm in a brace, knowing it needed to be bound in the right position before he could begin healing it.

"I-I brought th-the cure for th-" Grendel cut the boy off with a shake of his head, and finished binding the arm. Giving the legs a once over, he was pleased to see they would heal quickly. Turning to look at the boy now that he was healed enough to not be in any danger of dying.

"I thought that would be the case, thank you for risking your life to bring it here through the storm." Grendel held out a hand, and the boy handed him the small vial of pink liquid. Grendel put it in his pocket, and cast a gravity spell on the boy before standing up.

"I will be right back boy, please wait right here. Feel free to use my bed in the loft above you, and don't go outside under any circumstances. I must go administer this right away." Grendel turned and headed for the door, preparing the spell to keep the books steady.

"Uhm…I-I do have a name sir." The boy's bright green eyes stared at the back of Grendel as he paused, hand on the handle of the door. Grendel smiled and turned to face the boy.

"Then speak up boy, what would you name be?" Grendel glanced out the window as the tree tilted farther than normal, before swaying in the other direction.

"It's Blaise sir." Grendel nodded, turning for the door once more.

"Well then Blaise, call me Grendel. You have my gratitude for coming all this way for us." Opening the door, Grendel left, closing it behind him. Blaise stared at the door for some time, before glancing down at the floor/wall.

"Gradditude…"


	2. A rude interruption

By the time three days had passed, the storm had finally abated, and the injured Blaise had sustained were all but memories, thanks to the healing powers of the sage. Grendel watched as Blaise purchased some of the wares that were common in Ellinia, to take back to Henesys with him. Grendel was pleased to see he had made a full recovery, but something was bothering him.

"Blaise, may I speak to you?" Grendel's voice caught the attention of the boy, who quickly finished his business and followed Grendel inside the library. Closing the door with a flick of his staff, Grendel faced the boy.

Bright green eyes looked upwards quizzically, wondering what the wise old magician wanted. With eyes attuned to seeing the potential inside of people, be it light or dark magic, Grendel had a talent for sensing budding wizards even before they had embarked down the path of a magi. And he could see that this boy had very high potential, for one so young. Given enough training, Grendel could see the boy would make a very fine mage.

"Tell me, what level are you?" Grendel's question startled Blaise, who's eyes widened before he quickly glanced to the window, looking outside with a bad attempt at a blank expression.

"Level 8 sir." Blaise glance to Grendel before looking away again. He was aware of the fact mages were often recruited at level 8. In recent years they had started accepting mages at the normal 10. However, it was not unheard of for Grendel to make exceptions to the rule, but it wasn't common.

"I see, I could have mistaken you for 10. You have that air about you, of an adventurer ready to set out into the world." Grendel paused, leaning down so he was eye to eye with Blaise, who turned to look at him nervously.

"Have you ever thought of becoming a magician?" The reaction to Grendel's question was almost immediate. Blaise stepped back, tripping on the carpet, and slammed his head against the wall as he fell. Wincing, it was obvious to the both of them Blaise was trying to avoid answering. Eventually he sighed, standing up and looking Grendel in the eyes.

"No sir, I want to be an archer." Blaise began packing stuff into his new bag, wrapping the fragile things in fabric. Closing it, he stayed in that position, refusing to meet Grendel's eyes.

"I see," replied Grendel, straightening up. It would be a lie to say he was not disappointed that the boy had already picked another path. But it was not his place to decide the boy's fate. Standing up, he arced his back, wincing as it cracked. He was sure there was probably a spell for that, but he had yet to find it. In theory, a pain reducer that was triggered when he stood up would work, but experimenting with magic was often dangerous. That, and he would have to change his bathroom into a laboratory again.

"Well, I guess I will be heading off. I need to get these supplies to Henesys." Blaise raised his head as he stood up, looking in the direction of Grendel. As they both gazed at each other, an understanding passed between them, and Grendel glanced to the bookshelves. Lifting a book off the shelf with magic, he brought it over to the boy, who took it and gazed at the title.

"Magic theory? Why are you giving me this?" Blaise frowned, putting the book in his bag as Grendel began to answer.

"I see you have your mind set on being an archer, but I see no reason not to try one last time to bring you down the path of a mage. Give the book a read, and if you wish to know more come and visit me in the library. Please take good care of it, it is hard to reproduce a book exactly the same as the original. Why, I have a copy of 'Dungeons and Wagons' in my study." Grendel saw Blaise nod, and give a grateful smile.

"Okay Si-," Blaise cut himself off, and gave a much warmer smile.

"Okay Grendel, thank you for allowing me to stay here and recover." Having finished saying goodbye, Blaise opened the door and began climbing down the tree, heading for home. Grendel watched him go, giving a sad smile. He knew better than anyone that those with great potential, also had great potential for darkness. At least Blaise had a very mellow disposition, he wasn't likely to be one to get caught by the darkness of revenge.

* * *

"Wow Blaise, I've never seen an archer with so much fail before, it must take a lot of practice." Blaise glanced to his left, thought's interrupted by the kid with the black mullet. Both of them were wearing the bowmen training gear. Lowering the bow, he turned and faced the kid and gave a sigh, before breaking out into a fake smile.

"I've still got plenty of time to get better Yervan. If I play my cards right I won't level beyond 9 for quite some time." Blaise heard Yervan snort, and fire a shot dead centre, and smiled.

"Of course Blaise, of course. You're determined to be kid for the rest of eternity if it means following your mother's footsteps." Yervan fired another shot, this time hitting the arrow Blaise had just fired, at the edge of the target. Blaise raised his bow, and fired another shot. Seeing it get inside the second outer ring, one closer than his normal, he felt a thrill of satisfaction. As an arrow easily flew past and knocked his off the board, he felt it turn into a mild annoyance. As he turned to confront Yervan about it, the tutor arrived, and they both paused.

"Alright that's enough for today, everyone's shaping up into great archers. I'll see you same time tomorrow." As the tutor's voice rang out, Yervan completely forgot about Blaise, who slowly followed the group as everyone began to push and shove to get their gear put away first. After everyone had cleared out, Blaise put his gear away, changing from the training gear into a light blue t shirt and a pair of jeans. With that done, he headed out of Henesys, carrying his bag on his pack as he headed for the Golem Temple.

Passing the mushrooms, he tried to fire an arrow at them, but missed completely. Giving a sigh, he decided to merely avoid them. When he was stronger he might consider returning to grind on them, as some of the older trainees were doing as he walked.

Walking up the steps, he saw the layered ruins fall into view, two people decimating the Golem population with a quiet, bored look. As he passed them, he heard one mutter something about rubble, before they vanished out of view. Stopping in front of a small building with a puppet hanging off the top, Blaise entered and glanced around.

Blaise was glad to see it was just as empty as he had left it yesterday, and picked a spot at the top of some old scaffolding to sit down, looking at the room once before pulling himself close to the wall. Opening his bag, he pulled out the book Grendel had given him, and flipped to the page he had been at when he had stopped reading yesterday.

Blaise was not quite sure way he felt he had to read somewhere secluded, but supposed it was due to the fact if someone like Yervan saw it he would be done for. He also didn't understand why it interested him so much, it was just simple magic theory, something even he had a little knowledge about.

The book was currently talking about mana drain, and how mages utilised it best. Mainly, it said that when a mage attacked it would drain the life force of the monster slightly, as well as cause damage. Essentially, if it was used to it's full potential, a mage could drain the soul right out of a monster. However, the only mage known to have this knowledge was Grendel, and he didn't teach it to mages due to the barbaric nature of it. Instead, he taught a much weaker version, one that would still allow the monster to pass on, and be reincarnated. Blaise could understand the logic, Maplers thrived off monsters.

"I don't think this is secure enough Francis, they know we used to meet here." Blaise raised his head as a voice cut through his concentration, and glanced over the edge to see two blue-cloaked men. One was carrying a puppet of some kind. The one with the puppet turned to the other and growled.

"Yes but that's why they won't suspect it Baroq! They wouldn't think us stupid enough to use the same place twice." Blaise deduced the one with the puppet was obviously Francis, and the other was Baroq. Frowning, he realised he was in a very dangerous position.

"I guess you have a point, should I inform the other Black Wings that this place is secure?" Baroq pulled out a letter and scrawled a quick message on it, pilling out a yellow rock with a rune inscribed on it. Blaise began shifting back towards the wall, so he could keep out of sight.

"Tell them I will inform them once I am sure it's 100% secure, we can't afford to lead the Black Wings here to be slaughtered, we'll be seen as traitors." Francis kicked a rock on the ground using his puppet, a small smile falling on his face. Soon he would be alone and he could play with his puppets without scornful eyes. The rock hit against the scaffolding, and Blaise felt the structure weaken under him as the rock hit the old frame, and it began to fall away from the wall. The two Black Wings stepped back, and as the structure fell their eyes met. With a crash Blaise fell to the ground, momentarily winded.

"A spy!?" Francis quickly grabbed Blaise, holding him down as Baroq walked over and examined the boy.

"No, he's just a bystander, he's probably not even level 10." Baroq tapped Blaise, who raised his head and met the eyes of the large brute. Francis pushed Blaise onto Baroq, who held the boy by the scruff.

"Take him with you, we can't let him go when we're trying to make this place secure, I doubt anyone will think to look here. Give him to Gelimer." Francis began moving the debris out of the way, pushing a book to the side with a disgruntled scrape. Blaise opened his mouth to object unconsciously, before a hand went over his mouth before he could utter a squeak.

"Looks like we've got a talker" Baroq put a muzzle on Blaise, and then tied his arms and legs together. Finished that, he grabbed a potato sack and slipped it over Blaise, and picked him up in the bag. Having trouble breathing, Blaise tried to struggle. However, as the bag was swung against the wall, hard, all throughs of trying to escape slipped his mind in an effort to bear the sudden pain. Moisture came unbidden to his face.

"I'll see you later Francis, don't let that Phantom kick you around like last time." Sound was the only thing Blaise could sense from inside the bag.

"Shut up Baroq, he's tougher than he looks." Blaise felt a sudden dizziness envelop him, Francis's voice fading out near the end. He couldn't see where he was, nor could he comprehend what had happened. If that was a teleport rock, then he could be anywhere in Maple. Why were the Black Wings here?

And where was he now?


	3. Blackout

A young woman with brown hair and a white doctor's coat approached the coughing bunny near the entrance to the mines. Pulling out her gear, she greeted the rabbit and began a checkup.

"About time you got here doc, couple'a rashes have been appearing on ma ears." The rabbit leant down, and the doctor quickly examined them with a frown.

"You haven't been using the cream for your ear infection have you?" At the doctor's words, the bunny shook his head, wincing as she pulled gently on one of the ears.

"Start using it twice a day, that should clear up the infection. And try not to scratch it." The bunny nodded grimly, and accepted his fate. The doctor began packing up her utensils, and turned to head back to Eldestein. However, before she could take a step a flash of light appeared and a bulky man in a purple cloak materialised, putting away a yellow stone. On his back was a large potato sack.

"This is a rare occurrence ain't it?" Baroq, for of course it was him, glanced to the rabbit as it spoke and then to the doctor.

"I've got a 'battery' for the scientist." Baroq held out the bag, letting it swing slightly. The rabbit took it with a nod, and motioned to the door.

"I'll see to it it's sent down the chute to his battery storage." Both glanced to the doctor, who realised she had overstayed her welcome and nodded in goodbye before heading calmly back to Edelstein. Baroq pulled out his teleport rock again, and waved goodbye to the rabbit. The rabbit turned and left his post for a brief moment to enter and slip the bag through a small chute near the door. Finished that, he returned to his post.

* * *

Blaise felt the entire journey down, and landed hard on the concrete, blind and scared. He had no idea where he was, only that he had been handed to a different guy to be given to some scientist to be used as a battery. What that meant went over his head, and it was some time before he managed to calm his fears and have a listen to his surroundings.

Footsteps were coming closer, and stopped close by. Blaise felt himself be picked up, and them untying the top of the bag before dumping him unceremoniously on the floor. Blinking his eyes open as they pushed him into a chair and looked him over, he gazed at his surroundings.

Blaise was in some sort of deep cave, machinery lined up through the cavern, above him was the hole he had come through. The first thing he noticed was the white-haired man with glasses that was holding a bear in one hand. His other hand was slipped into a pocket, and he was smiling at Blaise. There were also two bunny brute's nearby, ready to hold him down should he try to escape.

"Lets see now…" The white-haired man pulled out a device with a gauge on it. When he pointed it at Blaise, it swung from the left side to close to the end of the right side. The man smiled, and put the device away.

"Prepare a seat, this guy is going towards the battery." The white haired man leaned in as one of the bunny brute's pulled out some sort of doctor chair and attached various plugs to it. Flicking a switch the chair buzzed to life, the machine it was connected to turned on as well. Two large tanks of a purple fluid rested on top, and to the side of the machine was a second contraption with the purple fluid glowing brightly. The glowing fluid was slowly being sucked into a larger tank.

"You're in luck boy, you don't become one of my experiments, and instead will come to help the Black Wings in their goal of bringing back the Black Mage. You should be proud." The old man's words chilled Blaise as he realised just what he had gotten himself into. He leaned away from the scientist, and tried to get out of his bindings. The bunnies were quick to grab him with an iron grip, and they transferred him to the chair they had set up, strapping him in.

"Tell those in hell that Gelimer sent you." The white haired man named Gelimer walked over to a switch, ignoring the struggles of Blaise as he tried to get free. Pulling the switch, Blaise felt pain lace through his body, and cried out as it ripped through him. The world around him turned black, and his cries soon faded away as all his energy was drained, and it was a struggle to stay awake.

"Hah….Hah…" Blaise rasped in darkness, unable to see the world around him as he felt himself growing weaker and weaker.

"Hah…*cough*" Blood splattered from his mouth, and his eyes began to slowly close. Blaise tried to hold onto a coherent thought, but even his mind fell blank in time. It was all he could do to breathe. Eventually, that too stopped. Everything went dark, and Blaise fell unconscious.

* * *

Suddenly, a flicker of light appeared in Blaise's mind, and he felt a shift in the darkness that had almost overcome him. As it grew, Blaise reached out to touch it, and felt fire blaze down his body. His silent cry to the darkness above him went unanswered, and the orb of light grew about him, growing more and more hot. Blaise couldn't stand it, and he almost wished for the darkness he had been in before.

And then the pain abruptly vanished, and he returned to reality with an explosion. Blaise watched as the air around him grew into a blazing inferno, melting anything nearby and freeing him. Gelimer quickly fled the room, locking the door and leaving the bunny brutes in the room. They charged at Blaise, and his hand rose unbidden to shoot a double lightning bolt at them, knocking them unconscious.

"Hah…Hah…" Blaise was gasping for breath, and his only desire was escaping. He barely noticed the blood dripping from his mouth as he made his way to the opening that had come through to get here. Blaise looked up, and suddenly he was flying up the chute, ending up in the entrance to some mine. A few people glanced to him before trying to attack him, but suddenly the air around him chilled, and they all froze in place.

"*cough*" Blaise dragged himself outside, and looked straight ahead. There was a town, if he could just make his way there, he might be safe. Without thinking about it, his body prepared to teleport him. Unbidden, a form dived for him, pushing him forward and breaking his concentration. It was one of the people who had been inside. The teleport spell activated, and everything around him shifted into that of a quiet park.

Blaise collapsed to the ground, and coughed up more blood, his vision fading. The park had a fountain and some pink flowers with yellow centres. He tried to hold onto consciousness, but it continued to grow darker around him. As he fell unconscious, hurt and in a serious condition, he didn't notice a pale white-haired person with bat wings gently bend down and frown at him.


End file.
